Miniature animal toy car



June 14, 1949.

J. OCONNOR ET AL -MINIATURE ANIMAL TOY CAR Filed July 16, 1945 INVENTORS: Jcl' J? Ofmznor SZeZZaflUC'Onnor Z0702 2y I Patented June 14, 1949 -2;473,295,. .mNtAruaE-ANIM-Amrorcan fJackNglivccnnor'and Stella M. OConnor,

Los Angeles,v Calif.v

ApplicatiomJulya 1.6, 1945S6I1ifl1iNlIc-6053296 Our invention relates to improvements in a miniature ammalitoyx-cari-or: childs vehicle, the .primaryobiect. being to provide improved means by which an appealing device ofits kind isproduced and the child is furnished with a strong Jable steering head applied to the platform-.01

the vehicle.

In vthed'rawing, A" is a horizontally disposed platform, which has abroad back seat portion ill, a forward disk-like bearing member II and a longitudinal connecting neck portion l2 between said seat and bearing. This structure enables a child to assume sitting posture while facing forwardly on the seat with his or her legs straddling the neck and with his or her arms within easy reach of the bearing portion of the platform.

The seat portion of the platform is secured to a transverse bolster l3, the upright side arms I 4 of which are journaled upon the opposite end portions of a horizontal transverse shaft I5. Carrier wheels l6 and I! are rigidly secured to the ends of or may be journaled on said shaft. The bolster and platform are braced and reinforced by a longitudinal rib l8, which is rigidly secured to the bolster and extends forwardly below and is rigidly secured along the seat and neck portions of the platform.

The forward bearing portion ll of the platform is pivotally mounted and journaled upon a centrally and vertically disposed shaft 29, which has an annular bearing shoulder 2i engaged below the bearing member H and an upwardly extended stub shaft portion 22 whichprojects above and is journaled through the bearing H. The swivel shaft 23 also has a downwardly extended squared vertical end portion 23 upon the lower end of which a horizontal crank shaft 24 is journaled by the bearing 25.

Carrier wheels sent the back legs t2 li and 2 ZJtare rigidly secured to.. the. out.er.. pro testing! horizontal end; portions of shaft .24... and said? end; portions, are -formed-with integral crank armsld-and 2a to. which foot .pedalst3llare' freely journaled. to. enable. .the. occupant. to ,propelthe vehicle.

.Asteeringhead3. l composed 'ofla vertical plate, theimarginal. edge; ofewhichtis shaped? to. resemble .the. head. portion ofwan .animal, suchias. a, horse or. other. object Bis rigidly. secured. to thenupwardly extendedportion of,.the.stubjshaftl22lin normally longitudinal. direction. .The. lower. edge 3210f thehead =plate..3 I. bears rotatively, onthe surface .of. the bearing. plate. I l and-completes. theswivel Journal. connection biatweenjthefbrward Wheel mount and. thermatform. .The. steering. shaftgis Jioinedl, to...thev st'eeringhadl plate .by av slip joint -33 as. shown; in. Fig. 4.

. A laterally extending. handle harti-is secured through the steerihg,.head,-plate,. whichthe occupantmmay .grasp. for directing. the. front carrier wheels)- -Ih,,addition=, to thejfanciful shape of. the steering. head',.. the rearzend,ofj..the..platform may .beidecorated'ltwith .a. .tailj.piece,35 to,. as'sist. inimparting the'fanciful' representation of vanahimal to the entire device. Also breast and hip guards 36 and 31 are secured to and extended downwardly from the marginal edges respectively of the front bearing plate and the seat portions I I and Ill. The lower edges of these guards are scolloped to assist in imparting respectively the representation of the breast portion and hip portion of the animal of which the device is designed to simulate.

Plates which are shaped marginally to repre- 40-40 of an animal such as a horse are pivotally hung at M (Fig. 3) from depending supports 42 on the opposite sides of the seat above the shaft IS. The lower feet ends of these legs are respectively connected to the wheels l6 and I! by a crank pin 43 and a cooperating slotted cleat 44 which is disposed longitudinally on the inner side of the adjacent leg member. By this means the back legs are reciprocated on their pivot supports M so as to simulate motion as the vehicle is propelled forwardly or backwardly. The front end portion of the vehicle is also provided with a pair of plates representing the front legs 45-45 of an animal such as a horse. These front legs are hung from lateral supports 46 (Fig. 2) on the opposite sides of the squared portion of the swivel body 23 and are journaled by their lower ends on the crank shaft 24.

In use the occupant of the vehicle can propel the vehicle by foot power applied either to the foot pedals 30 or directly to the surface of the ground upon which the vehicle is used. The occupant can also simultaneously steer and guide the vehicle by the handle bar 34 or directly by the steering head. While seated on the platform the occupant is braced by the curved back 48 which is secured rigidly on the seat portion. The hip and breast plates in addition to representing portions of the body of an animal shield portions of the legs and their working connections with the platform and swivel shaft from view.

Modifications are contemplated within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the following claims:

We claim:

1. A childs vehicle, comprising a flat platform having a back seat portion, a forward disk-like bearing portion and a connecting neck portion between said seat and bearing, a transverse bolster secured below the seat, carrier wheels journaled upon said bolster, a vertical swivel body having a stub shaft journaled upwardly through said bearing, a vertical steering head plate mounted upon said shaft and revoluble by its lower edge upon said bearing, a crank shaft journaled on the lower portion of said swivel body having crank arm members, carrier wheels journaled on said shaft, foot engaging pedals mounted on the crank arm members of said crank shaft, back leg plates pivotally hung from the back seat portion of said platform and having crank pin connections with the back carrier wheels to impart reciprocable motion thereto as' the wheels revolve, front leg plates having their upper end portions secured to the swivel body and journaled by their lower end portions on said crank shaft whereby said leg plates are caused to swing with the rotation of said swivel body, a hip guard plate depending from and secured to the marginal edge portion of the platform and shielding a portion of the back legs from view, and a neck guard plate depending from and secured to the bearing portion of the platform and shielding a portion of the front legs from view.

2. A childs vehicle, comprising a platform having a broad rear seat portion, a forward horizontal bearing plate and a connecting neck between said seat and bearing plate, a carrier swiveled upon said bearing plate and having a steering head plate above said bearing plate, rear carrier wheels journaled below and supporting the seat rear portion of the platform, a rear leg pivotally supported below the seat rear portion of the platform outwardly beyond each of said rear wheels, a pin and slot connection be tween the inner face of the free end portion of each rear leg and its companion wheel by which reciprocable motion is imparted to the rear leg by the revolution of its connected wheel, and a shield depending from the outer edge of said platform in front of the pivot connections between said rear legs and platform.

JACK N. O'CONNOR. STELLA M. O'CONNOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 102,322 Rhodes et al Apr. 26, 1870 161,924 Bailey Apr. 13, 1875 229,655 Albrecht July 6, 1880 613,375 Kellogg Nov. 1, 1898 621,945 Ritter Mar. 28, 1899 787,670 Hyde Apr. 18, 1905 1,040,669 Hansen Oct. 8, 1912 1,321,049 Jorgensen Nov. 4, 1919 1,379,745 C'oughlin May 31, 1921 1,419,341 Williams June 13, 1922 1,470,441 Green Oct. 9, 1923 1,499,884 Singer July 1, 1924 1,516,244 Powell Nov. 18, 1921 1,557,178 McLaren Oct. 13, 1925 1,910,018 Jones May 23, 1933 2,006,349 Fowler July 2, 1935 2,044,889 Ralston June 23, 1936 

